Former Brexit Party MEP Nathan Gill has been sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for taking Russian bribes while he was in office at the European Parliament.
A series of Whatsapp messages revealed that the British MEP had received over €45,000 from Oleg Voloshyn, an alleged Russian asset who is believed to currently be in Moscow. He was bribed to make pro-Russian statements while he was an elected European official.
Gill pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery between 6 December 2018 and 18 July 2019. He has given no explanation about his motivation, but investigators believe it was financial greed.
He was member of both far-right British parties, UKIP and then the Brexit Party – both led by Nigel Farage, until the UK’s exit from the European Union in 2020. He was first elected in 2014.
A banner from Nathan Gill's X account with senior Reform UK figures Richard Tice and Nigel Farage. Gill is (2R).
The Welsh politician was a key cog in the UK's Brexit movement, which led to the country's withdrawal from the EU in 2020 after the referendum. He was also the former leader of Nigel Farage's Reform UK in Wales until 2021.
He had previously told the BBC he had responsibility for the Brexit Party's group of MEPs as its "head of delegation". He said that meant he told them where to sit and would "keep them in line".
What happened?
In its investigation, the UK’s Counterterrorism policing unit's investigation uncovered how the former Brexit MEP received payment in return for making statements supporting pro-Russian media outlets in Ukraine between 2018 and 2020.
He was arrested at Manchester Airport on 13 September 2021 under suspicion of counterterrorism offences. Officers seized his mobile phone and raids were also subsequently ordered on his home address in Wales, where more electronic devices were seized.
Nathan Gill and his Brexit Party colleagues in the EP in Strasbourg in 2019.
Gill was interviewed under caution in March 2022 but made no comment at the time. During the investigation, counterterrorism officers found evidence on Gill's electronic devices that he was in contact a Ukrainian national called Oleg Voloshyn.
It was revealed that during the exchanges on WhatsApp, Gill agreed that, in exchange for money, he would make statements that were supportive of pro-Russia media being present in Ukraine.
In the following months, he made a number of statements against Ukraine’s government on media and in the Parliament. He even organised in 2019 an event inviting MEPs for a discussion with pro-Russian Ukrainian MP and close Putin ally, Viktor Medvedchuk.
